Stanford defends LPGA Senior Championship title

JACKSON, Miss. - All week the focus was on his eyes. Every time Sergio Garcia stroked a putt, the cameras showed a battle-scarred 40-year-old who had missed so many over his career he'd seen enough. Perhaps, he reasoned, the seeing itself was the problem. Why watch? There was no upside. He led his lids fall, trusted the stroke, and when the last putt fell, a kick-in birdie on 18 to beat Peter Malnati by one, those eyes filled with tears. RELATED: Final leaderboard | The clubs Garcia used to win | Why Garcia putts with eyes closed It was his first victory on TOUR since the 2017 Masters, and the first since he became a father, first to 2-year-old Azalea and then to 6-month-old Enzo. More than his putting woes, or his so-called slump - he won on the European Tour just over a year ago - he thought of family. He especially thought of the two uncles he lost to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "My father has a lot of family in Madrid," Garcia said. "He’s one of nine siblings, and unfortunately we lost two of his brothers because of COVID, one at the beginning, Uncle Paco, and one just last Saturday actually - not yesterday but the Saturday before, Uncle Angel. "You know, it’s sad," he continued. "It’s sad. And I know that a lot of families have lost a lot more people, but you never want to lose anyone like that, and I wanted to win this for them." Sometimes golf is hard just because it's hard. And sometimes life just gets in the way. Garcia had never played the Sanderson Farms, and it was hard to know what to make of him, especially the eyes-wide-shut putting. He was a 10-time TOUR winner, but he hadn't won since the 2017 Masters. He'd missed three of his previous four cuts on TOUR, had fallen out of the world top 50, and was coming off a season in which he recorded just one top-25 finish. To put that in perspective, he had never recorded fewer than four top-25s in 21 previous TOUR seasons, and missed the Playoffs for just the second time in the FedExCup era. Two shots stood out Sunday: His 5-wood second shot that trundled up to within four feet of the pin for eagle, and his 8-iron approach on 18, which set up a 30-inch birdie. The ball-striking that has defined his career took center stage at Country Club of Jackson, as Garcia was first in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, and driving distance. Although he was only 28th in Strokes Gained: Putting, he was in positive numbers all four days. His unusual putting, which he said he's been doing for the last three-plus years, is working. "I was believing in myself the whole week," said Garcia, who moved to fourth in the FedExCup just three events into the new season. "I obviously hit a bad putt on six for par, but I stuck with it, I kept going, I kept believing, I kept telling myself you’re doing great, just keep doing what you’re doing, it’s great. You’re not going to make every single putt." He is asked incessantly about the closed eyes, and it would be easy to have doubts. As one reporter here pointed out, it looks not just odd but like the act of a desperate man. But Garcia and his wife Angela talked about it and agreed: If he didn't commit to something and really give it a chance, the odds were remote that he was ever going to settle into a groove on the greens. His experience tuning out the doubters, all those people who harped on his inability to win a major, served him well. Now he's peaking again with another Masters only a month away. "Well, it’s obviously a boost of confidence, there’s no doubt," Garcia said. "Even if I would have not won it, it still would have been a massive high for me this week. To be able to do a lot of the things that I did, it meant a lot. It showed me a lot of what I still have, and what I still can do."

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CLYMER, N.Y. – Chesson Hadley took control of the LECOM Health Challenge with a flawless 8-under-par 64, his lowest third-round score on the Web.com Tour since 2013. The 30-year-old from Raleigh, N.C. was 8-under through 12 and closed out his round with six straight pars to post 16-under-par 200. Hadley sits one clear of Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada alum Sam Ryder, who birdied the par-5 18th to reach 15-under and get into the final pairing on Sunday afternoon. Beau Hossler, who played alongside Hadley on Saturday afternoon at Peek’n Peak’s Upper Course, bogeyed three of his final five holes but carded a third-round 6-under 66 and is two back heading into the final round. China’s Xinjun Zhang is 13-under-par, while Austin Cook is 12-under-par with one round to go. “I struck the ball incredibly well today and made a few putts,� said Hadley, who hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation on Saturday. “It was just one of those days where everything was great and I got up and down when I needed to.� Hadley got off to a fast start, making six birdies and an eagle in a 12-hole stretch. The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket was 16-under for the tournament and in sole possession of the lead standing on the 13th tee. Hossler caught Hadley with a birdie on the par-3, but quickly fell back after bogeys on 14 and 15. Hadley held his ground, making critical par saves down the stretch to stay atop the leaderboard with one round to go. He missed the green short on 16, left his chip short and knocked in a tricky five-footer for par. On the home hole Hadley sailed his approach long into the back bunker and blasted it to two feet to keep his card clean on Saturday. “Every shot counts,� said Hadley, who has made two bogeys in 54 holes. “It doesn’t matter if it is for par, birdie or whatever.� Hadley came close to winning earlier this season, at the Rex Hospital Open in front of his friends and family, on a course where he was victorious in 2013. He was tied with Conrad Shindler at the conclusion of the final round and lost in a playoff after missing a short putt for par to force a second extra hole. “I will never forget that,� said Hadley, about the deflating playoff loss. “That’s good, I can fuel off that for a long time. It’s alright, we are alright. We’re leading another golf tournament.� This is the second-time Hadley will hold the outright lead in a Tour event. In 2013, he led the Digital Ally Open by one, carded a final-round 70 and finished tied for third. Hadley has a way of rebounding from shortcomings like the one in Overland Park. At the end of that season, he won the Web.com Tour Championship and ended the year with the third-best career earning total in Tour history ($535,432). He’s hoping history will repeat itself this week. “I knew I was going to be back in this position,� said Hadley. “With my game over the years I know when I’m trending and heading in the right direction.� Hadley’s been in good spirits since arriving to the Peek’n Peak Resort. On Wednesday, the father-of-two had his 30th birthday and his wife Amanda surprised him with a cake in player dining and even got some of the players to sing him happy birthday as two-time Tour winner walked in. “My family came which was great,� he said. “I haven’t seen my kids in three weeks. I typically don’t like to go more than two weeks without seeing them but I did three, it was just the way it went. There are a lot of positive things going in my direction.� Ryder stood in the fairway at the par-5 18th with a great opportunity to reach the green in two, but elected to layup and rely on his wedge game. The second-year Tour pro knocked a wedge to within five feet of the cup and made the birdie putt to breakout of a two-way tie for second with Hossler, and earn a spot alongside Hadley on Sunday afternoon. “I saw he (Hadley) was lighting it up,� said Ryder, who admitted he looks at scoreboards during the round. “I wanted to get into that last pairing. It was nice to make that last one because I wanted to play in the last group with Chesson.� While Ryder is in search of his first Tour win in his 36th career start, the 27-year-old from Winter Park, Fla. has won as a professional. In 2015, the Stetson University alum won the National Capital Open to Support Our Troops on the Mackenzie Tour and ended the season No. 4 on the Order of Merit. This week, Ryder has been able to rekindle some of the magic he had in the Capital of Canada. “I was thinking back to when I won in Ottawa and the greens were Poa Annua/Bent (grass) like these,� said Ryder. “I was struggling early in the round and told myself these are the same kind of greens. I shot 20-under to win there and the scores are similar here.�

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